MISSOULA — If the University of Montana is looking for a jumper or sprinter to join its track and field program, consider this Montannah Piar's pitch.
"I'm going to attend the University of Montana as of right now, and I would love to do track and field there," Piar said Saturday at the conclusion of the Class C state track and field meet at Missoula County Public Schools Stadium, where she scored 30 points over the two-day event. "Hopefully my marks (Saturday) will push to get me on the team. If they don't, then I'll just come back stronger and prove to them that, yeah, I should have been on in the first place.
"And if, I mean, maybe if Montana State randomly comes out of nowhere, I'd go for that, too. But, I'd love to go run track for the Griz."
Photos: 2025 Class B/C state track and field meet - Day 2
Piar got her first name from her parents' love of the Treasure State — "I don't know why it's spelled like that, I'm going to be honest with you," she quipped — and she moved here from Missouri when she was in middle school.
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If the Griz do end up reaching out to Piar, they'll be contacting the Class C record-holder in the long jump. Piar, a senior at Granite County High School in Philipsburg, jumped 17-9½ on Friday to win the event.
On Saturday, she added second-place finishes in the triple jump (35-10¼) and 100-meter dash (12.73 seconds) and a fourth-place finish in the 200 (26.74 seconds). Piar's performance helped Philipsburg, which had only four girls go out for track this spring, tie for second in the Class C team standings.
"It means a lot. We won (the Western C divisional meet) last weekend. We haven't won divisionals in any sport in so very long — maybe football, but I don't keep up with that," Piar said. "I went into this week and also knowing that we have so much potential of placing, and I knew in order to get a plaque at the end of the weekend, I knew I'd have to finish higher than where I was ranked. ... I mean, it's a big thing for us to even go to state. It means a lot."
Philipsburg also got points from Addi Lilyquist, who placed second in the 3,200-meter run and third in both the 800- and 1,600-meter runs. The Prospectors totaled 50 points, good enough to tie with Scobey for second and only two points behind team champion Richey-Lambert.
The Fusion got a big meet from Jolee Klempel, who won the 100-meter hurdles in 15.5 seconds and tied with Piar in the long jump. Klempel added a third-place finish in the shot put (35-11¼) and fourth-place effort in the triple jump (35-2½).
Brynne Hill won the triple for Richey-Lambert, marking a jump of 35-11¾ to edge Piar, and placed fourth in Friday's long jump (16-6½). The Fusion also got an important third-place finish in the 400-meter relay, which Fort Benton won in a Class C-record time of 49.82 seconds.
Savage, which tied for the team championship last year, finished fourth with 40 points, 30 of which came from Cambry Conradsen on the track. The senior took the Warriors' sprinting baton from former teammate Brooke Reuter, who won seven state championships in the 100 and 200 during her high school career from 2021 to 2024. Reuter is now competing at Montana State University.
Conradsen swept the 100- and 200-meter dashes Saturday, finishing in 12.64 and 25.64 seconds, respectively. She also won the 400 on Friday in 59.17 seconds.
"It's just so great. I mean, I did not expect it, but I was hoping my year would be a little bit of a step up when (Reuter) would leave," Conradsen said. "But she did so amazing, and she's just a great sprinter, so I'm really proud of her. But I'm glad that I'm able to take over and just still take on what she put in and just be able to just keep going with it."
"(Reuter) did a lot. She was my inspiration through track. She did amazing things and she helped me," Conradsen added. "There's just a lot she helped me with, just always being there and supporting me, and just making me feel like I'm a part of her team.
"I don't know how to say it, but, like, she made me feel like I could do a lot more than I was putting in. And so coming into this year, I thought about that a lot, and just how Brooke would push me. Even if I did get second and she would get first, I was so proud of her. ... She helped me want to do better and just be able to get to where she was at."
Other girls winners on the track Saturday included Roberts' TJ Chirrick in the 800 (2:19.18), Whitewater's Shelbi LaBrie in the 3,200 (12:03.78) and Turner's Ali Doyle in the 300 hurdles (45.26), while Belt won the 1,600-meter relay.
In the field, Seeley-Swan's Lillian Boyd won the discus with a throw of 147 feet, 9 inches, and Kennedy Simonson of Whitewater won the javelin with a heave of 124-02.
On the boys side, Chester-Joplin-Inverness' Dane Grammar picked up double gold medals in the throws. He won the shot put on Friday with a throw of 47-11 and followed it up with a discus win Saturday.
"It feels pretty good. That's kind of been the goal all year," Grammar said of winning both throwing events. "It started a little shaky, but it was kind of after later in the season I started realizing that I could probably do it, hopefully. And I ended up doing it, so it's pretty cool."
Grammar, who PR'd in the shot put on Friday, had some impressive discus throws in warmups but admitted he got in his head a little during competition. He still managed to mark a throw of 157-11, which was just four inches off his personal-best throw from a few weeks ago.
"I had a couple good ones. Some of them were kind of shaky, but, you know, they weren't bad, so I can't be mad about winning, I guess," said Grammar, who is just a sophomore.
Another multiple-event winner for the boys was Johnslee Pierre of Lustre Christian. The junior won the long jump on Friday and then added a win in the triple jump on Saturday, just before he won the 300-meter hurdles.
"I've put in a lot of work before state — a lot of running, a lot of jumping during practice, and it shows," said Pierre, who won the long jump with a mark of 21-11, the triple with a jump of 44-5¾ and the 300 hurdles in 39.55 seconds.
"It feels just like a 400, it hurts," Pierre said of the grueling 300 hurdles, which he also won in 2023 as a freshman. "But I like the hurdles. Ever since I came (to Lustre Christian), my coach told me she thinks I should do the hurdles. Ever since then, I've been doing them."
Manhattan Christian cruised to the boys team championship, scoring 75 points to outpace the field. Cascade was second with 57, and Valley Christian was third with 44.
The Eagles got another win from Shaphan Hubner on Saturday, as he took first in the 800-meter run after winning the 1,600 on Friday. Hubner clocked a time of 1:56.63 in the 800 and then ran a leg on Manhattan Christian's winning 1,600-meter relay team. The Eagles finished in 3:26.93.
Plentywood's Henry Kukowski swept the 100 and 200, winning in 11.29 and 22.29 seconds, respectively. Drummond's Dawson Parke won the 3,200 in 10:11.40, Hot Springs' David Chapman won the 110-meter hurdles in 14.8, and Valley Christian won the 400-meter relay in 43.98.
